A proposal to increase the height of a proposed Tysons office building by 25 feet received support May 4 from McLean Citizens Association (MCA) board members.
The developer, B.F. Saul Co., has applied to the Fairfax County government for a special-exception amendment for its Tysons Park Place 1 and Tysons Park Place II properties, located at 7926 and 7930 Jones Branch Drive.
The site now is home to a 147-foot-tall Park Place II office building, which was built in 2008 and now is occupied by Hilton Worldwide’s headquarters. The developer plans to tear down the existing 135.5-foot-tall Park Place I building, constructed in 1975, and replace it with a 12-story office building with ground-floor retail.
The applicant would retain the buildings’ shared parking structure and seek to obtain Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification for the new Park Place 1.
The developer’s existing special exception, granted in March 2000, allowed the Park Place II building to be up to 150 feet tall, which was above the zoning code’s 120-foot limit.
The special-exception-amendment request seeks to allow the Park Place I replacement building to go even higher, up to 175 feet. The change would allow the applicant to increase ceiling heights in the 12-story building, especially for the ground floor where retail would be located, said MCA Planning and Zoning Committee chairman Robert Perito.
The higher building would not be out of place in the vicinity, given its 147-foot-tall Park Place II neighbor and several structures taller than 175 feet – including Capital One’s 470-foot-tall headquarters skyscraper on the other side of the Beltway, MCA’s resolution read.
Fairfax County Planning Commission members will review the application June 8 and the Board of Supervisors will make the final determination at a later date.